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Message: [QUOTE="javadoc, post: 365711, member: 338"] Trying to figure out who we are and what kind of team Marrone wants us to be, long-term. 2009 was a severely under-talented team trying just to be competitive. Looking back, I have to wonder if Marrone wanted to run a shotgun-oriented attack to let Paulus do his thing, and then the horrible realization set in that our center couldn't execute a freaking shotgun snap. That year, to me, looked like a GRob squad with better coaching. 2010 was a grand cosmic conjunction year. Still under-talented, but facing a schedule loaded with teams whose offenses were experiencing a 100-year low suck. The grind-it-out, win a 10-7 game strategy worked because Derrell Smith and Delone Carter imposed their wills. We pulled this year out of our asses. It wasn't predictive, nor was it an indicator of who we wanted to be. I think it was a great, and maybe lucky, coaching performance. Making chicken salad etc. Still didn't tell us much about who we wanted to be. 2011 was back to 2009. No Derrell Smith, no Delone Carter. Still not a full roster, so injuries were crucial. No Marcus Sales. Given where we were as a program, every loss of a truly talented player killed. What were we trying to be? The 2010 team, but without the extra luck of facing teams in an offensive abyss? The team we wanted to be, without the personnel to do so? I'm not sure, would love to hear what you think. This year, who are we? We look very different than the previous teams, offensively at least. Probably this is our first glimpse of what Marrone wanted us to be, back in 2009. It's tough to draw conclusions about our end game, if for no other reason than that we have been playing from behind seemingly this entire freaking year. This year, we are a team that can allow an average D-1A QB with good short- to mid-range accuracy to contend for top-10 national stats. If our coaching brain trust comes up with schemes and plans that allow the QB to operate in a relative comfort zone, all is well. This is what I would expect from a mad scientist like Marrone. If he wins the brain game, he enables an average guy to excel. If not, the average guy performs... averagely. OK, gratuitous digression. 4 games into this season, with a gazillion shotgun snaps, how many have gone astray? Sometimes it takes a Ryan Bartholomew to make you appreciate a Mackey Macpherson. FU Mackey haters. :) What are we not this year? So far, we are not a team that can impose its will in the run game. Not a problem between the 20's, but in the red zone it hurts. If we were more like the 2010 team in this regard, we would have won the Minny game, and blown out our D-1AA sacrifice. This vexes me. I would have guessed that apart from Delone Carter, all the parts of our run game were stronger this year than in 2010. The OL has to be better, right? What gives? Given the play calls this year, I think we can infer that Marrone wants us to be a team that can impose its will in the run game, when needed. Either that, or Marrone and Hackett have a significant disconnect. I don't know what the answer is. Do we have a talent issue in this one specific regard, this year? Will it be different when Pugh returns? We've got 2 weeks to prepare for conference play, and I'm sure the staff is thinking about what kind of team we want to be for the remainder of this year. Here is what I hope. Justin Pugh's return makes our OL solid across the line. Convince the guys that they are monsters and their job is to make opponents beg for their mommies. $100 to the first guy who gets a penalty for malicious hands inside the face mask. Time to act like a team that comes out of the gate to dictate the game. Take every opening kickoff and attack, pass pass pass. Frack this overanalyzing what the opponent is going to do on defense. Play your best goddamn play, make the opponent prove he can stop it. Back to something I said previously, pick Trudo or Foy and stick with him. The audition is over. It's time to establish an identity. We are talented enough at least to compete with everyone on the schedule, so no more excuses. I want to see some confidence, consistent execution, and swagger. We are not the 2010 team, and we sure as hell aren't the 2009 and 2011 teams. Tie up the loose ends, and we are better than any of them. [/QUOTE]

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